Friday, June 22, 2007

I have been working all summer to earn the money to buy an embroidery machine. I thought I would go with the Pfaff, but two things concern me. One of the big reasons I decided to go electronic in the first place is that I want better button holes. In many of the reviews I've read on the Pfaffs, people have expressed that they wish it made better button holes. Also, the Pfaff computer technology seems out of date to me. Now I am looking at the BabyLock Esante and the Bernina Aurora 440QE

The Baby lock seems very cool with lots of features. It is a beautiful looking machine. I love the large touch screen and variety of embroidery stitches. Also, it takes a USB drive rather than hooking it up to your computer"

On the other hand. The Bernina is, well, a Bernina. Right now the 440 has a special where the embroidery unit comes with for free. Of course, their top of the line machine is to die for, but I'd probably have to die before I could get it! The aurora doesn't look as snazzy as the Babylock and probably doesn't have as many features, but the stitch quality is beautiful. The other thing is the sales person at the Bernina store used to be a custom clothier, so understands all about garment construction, which is my main focus. The Babylock "sewing expert" is all about embroidery and quilitng, and I get the feeling that she's not all that up with clothing techniques.

I'd love to hear from any of you who have opinions on these things. I have never done machine embroidery before, and I really want to get a quality machine (on a limited budget)

3
comments:

Enid
said...

Nancy, I am sure these are both wonderful machines...I have a Babylock serger and just love it..But as far as a Embroidery machine is concerned..I am very happy with all the features on my Janome...It embroiders beautifully, it has wonderful buttonholes, and has a nice stitch quality...The other thing I like is that the embroidery unit is not a seperate unit, the sewing and embroidery are all one unit, no extra storage space needed.It also is a lot of bang for the buck!..I remember when I was looking for a machine, I happened to call a dealership that not only sold Janomes,but Elna, pfaff, babylock and another brand....which I can't think of now..the person I talked to was the repair tech, and he said all the machines had good qualities, but he rarely had a Janome come in for repairs.I know it is a hard decision, because you are spending a lot of money, but it is good you are researching..that way you can weigh the differences.Best of luck,Enid

Nancy, I don't have experience with embroidery machines, but have the Aurora 430 (which is the same mainly as the 440, just a little less features) and can tell you it makes beautiful buttonholes in I believe 5 variations. Good luck with deciding.

What a coincidence! I was also considering using my summer school money for a new sewing machine. I visited a dealer just yesterday (Friday) and test-drove the Aurora 430. I'm looking at the Aurora 430 because I haven't felt the urge to quilt nor embroider so I won't need the features of the 440QE. I really haven't considered a brand other than Bernina. I currently have an Elna, which I love (as much as one can love a machine). The 430 made great buttonholes and automatically remembers them. It's a big investment and a big decision. Good luck!